Warning to paedophile hunters as sex workers contact NSPCC
A judge has warned paedophile hunters not to dabble in what should be left to professionals after hearing how sex workers were sent messages by a man who later claimed he was trying to entrap them.
Two women that Sean Sardella contacted were so worried about the messages he sent that they gleaned personal information from him then contacted the NSPCC and the police.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court, Sardella admitted sending indecent, offensive, electronic communications.
The 29-year-old, from Weston Rhyn near Oswestry, was given an 18-month community order and 80 hours of unpaid work in the community and ordered to pay £150 costs.
Robert Edwards, prosecuting, said Sardella contacted women on an adult website offering them about £3,000 to ‘act out his sexual fantasy’.
When they asked for more details he told them it involved a young girl.
One woman contacted the NSPCC and another the police after they asked Sardella for information that would lead to him being traced.
When interviewed by the police Sardella said he was a paedophile hunter who was aiming to catch female paedophiles.
He said he had contacted about 250 women through the website because he had a hatred of paedophiles. The young girl was wholly fictional, he said.
Judge Barry said it had been an indiscriminate targeting of the women with nothing to suggest any of them were involved in any way with sexual activity with children.
Mr Hugh Chambers, for Sardella, said his client was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
It was an unusual case, he said, with Sardella gaining an insight into paedophile hunting through television programmes.
“There was never a child at risk,” he said.
“The entire scenario was made up.”
Judge Barrie said: “The sexual exploitation of children is too serious for people to dabble in what needs professional experience to deal with.”
